Crete Finds Self in Union

The passionate debate in Scotland over the issue of independence, the surge of Catalonian nationalism, the separatist war in Ukraine — all of these made me think of the tides that draw nations toward union or separation, and of my own island’s long battle to unite with Greece a century ago.

Crete succeeded in joining Greece in 1913, after a series of rebellions against the crumbling Ottoman Empire, having repeatedly rejected the autonomy that the great powers of Europe were pressing as an alternative. Their battle cry, “Union or Death,” was a world away from the genteel Aye or Nae of the Scottish referendum last Thursday, but the two struggles had the same aim: to preserve identity and achieve greater security.

The Cretans had fought for freedom valiantly but vainly for centuries — after coming under Venetian rule in the 13th century and, after 1669, as Ottoman subjects. They knew that in their part of the world, safety lay not in autonomy but in being part of a larger group with which they could identify. In their case, it was the Greek state, established in 1830 at the end of a nine-year war of liberation against the Turks.

But the major European powers did not allow Crete to join the newly independent Greece — for their own reasons, each preferred the status quo. This resulted in continual strife between the island’s Christians and Muslims. The great powers granted autonomy in 1908, and Crete finally joined Greece five years later.

So keen were the Cretans for union that they were not deterred by Greece’s bankruptcy in 1893, or by its defeat in an 1897 war with Turkey, or by the fact that its economy was under international supervision (as has been the case, once again, since 2010). The Cretans knew they would always be in danger if they did not become part of something bigger.

“The only real solution to our problem will be union with Greece,” the rebel leader Eleutherios Venizelos explained to the Italian admiral whose ships were part of an international force blockading the island in 1897. Earlier that year, Italian, British, French and Russian naval ships had bombarded rebel positions and blocked Greek forces from the island, ostensibly to prevent them from provoking the Turks.

“But,” Venizelos continued, “we are forced to adapt to the decisions of the powers and accept the promised autonomy, as a new stop on the way to achieving our national aim.” Venizelos won such credibility for his leadership that he became prime minister of Greece in 1910, three years before union was achieved.

In 1923, the last of Crete’s Muslims left the island in a major exchange of populations, after another war between Greece and Turkey.

The Cretans had fought hard for their freedom, but although they remain fiercely proud of what distinguishes them from other Greeks — mainly their music, their poetry and millenniums of history at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia — there is no sign that today’s Cretans seek autonomy.

A couple of years ago, as Greece’s economic crisis was deepening, the Cretan flag that flew between 1898 and 1908 began to appear on T-shirts, hats and even walls on the island. But today, with tourism surging and Crete’s economy recovering, the flag is seldom seen. It seems that too much went into the fight for union to start toying with the idea of separation now, however great the frustration with Greece’s woes. Also, Cretans are aware of their island’s strategic position, and the importance of its military facilities for the United States and NATO. Along with Greece’s membership in the European Union, this provides a sense of security.

People’s identities are defined not only by who they feel they are but also by their history and by whom they fear. Over the past 2,000 years, Crete was invaded and occupied by Romans, Arabs, Venetians, Turks and, in World War II, Germans and Italians. Its fate was often determined by the games of greater powers seeking to further their own interests. As a result, Cretans have a reputation for being both uncompromisingly rebellious yet also skilled at the diplomacy required to deal with sometimes unreliable allies. Today, with a resurgent and belligerent Russia, would Poland, Romania and any of the Baltic states choose to be, like Ukraine, outside of NATO and the European Union?

Successful transnational organizations, like the European Union, allow small nations or ethnic groups to feel that they can prosper without being part of some larger country. It is interesting to note that Malta, the smallest member of the European Union (smaller than Crete in size and population), has the highest percentage of people who feel that they are citizens of the European Union — 87 percent.

It is likely that if a majority of Scots felt that their identity, sense of self-determination and well-being would be threatened if they remained in the United Kingdom, more would have voted for independence. People who feel subjugated by others within the same country will fight to break free; those who feel alone and threatened will seek union.

Scotland and Crete, at geographical opposite ends of the European Union, reflect different phases of each people’s struggle to preserve its identity and to survive. Separatism and irredentism have always been major causes for war, as we see across the world today. In the European Union, with its values of democracy and tolerance, they are still important. But they are not life-or-death issues.

Nikos Konstandaras is the managing editor and a columnist at the newspaper Kathimerini.